“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.”
‭‭I John‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭

John has been talking extensively about loving others but reminds us that loving others does not earn our salvation when he says, “whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”.

Again, this belief is not simply an intellectual accent, but is a reliance and trust upon Christ and Christ alone for salvation.

So, there are basically only two types of people who have ever walked this earth—those who are children of God and those who are not.

We humans like to classify and divide people due to financial status, skin color, political party, gender, and on and on.

But truthfully, there are only two types of people. Children of God -those who have been made alive by the blood of Christ or those still dead in their sins.

Jesus told the Parable Rich Man and Lazarus. (Luke 16:19-31) This is not the same Lazarus that Jesus raised from the dead.

This Lazarus was a poor beggar who laid outside the gates of the rich man’s home.

They both die and the rich man, in Hades, sees the poor beggar being held by Abraham in Heaven.

And so many, who like to incite division based on financial status, assume the privileged rich man is in Hades because of his riches and the poor man is in Heaven because of his poverty.

But, “The rich man wasn’t lost because he was rich. He was lost because he did not listen to the law and the prophets. Many will also be lost for the same reason.” (Enduring Word App)

The way we divide ourselves is not how God sees us, nor how we should see each other.

Because Jesus came, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slaves nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus and if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Gal 3:28-29)

Hope for our divided world is found no where else but Jesus.

As long as we divide ourselves in worldly terms, we will remain divided.

But as we see others as God sees us -either a brother or sister in Christ to love, or someone we need to also love and tell about Him, we will find true unity.

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Note – this is a continuation of my study of 1 John.